“A Mexican Mission”
... out to be. At first we all got along, but as the days progressed we sometimes got on each other’s nerves. After we stayed in San Diego, we rented some vans and started driving to La Esperanza, Mexico. The van trip was great because I got to see the landscape of Mexico and meet people. Our group joined another group from Florida, so there were a lot more people to meet. It took us about 8 hours on a van from San Diego to La Esperanza. It was a long trip but at least I got to sleep, talk and look at the scenery. We got to La Esperanza in the afternoon and we had a meeting laying down the rules. The directors of the La Esperanza mission were an older couple and there were also other groups from the United States. This place was like a place in the countryside; houses made out of concrete and without air conditioning. Also, this place didn’t have that much water and we were a lot of people, so for showers we had to shower every other day. That afternoon we got settled in. I bunked with one of my friends and these three other girls from Colorado. It felt like we were in the desert because during the day it would be hot and at night it would be cool. La Esperanza was in the middle of nowhere. It was in a secluded area but at least there was a little store across the street, which we went to almost everyday. The day after we arrived we worked on the campsite for the first hours of the morning, and then in the afternoon we went to the camps. That afternoon we went to a workers’ camp. These camps were full of people that work in the field and they live in this area because they can’t afford housing for their families. There were a lot of children who would take care of the babies while their parents were working. Our group brought some stands for puppet shows and some music. Some people even brought their own guitars to play to the kids. Some of these kids have never seen puppets and musical instruments before. These people were living in such poor conditions that I couldn’t even believe it. They were living in zinc houses and some of the kids weren’t wearing any clothes. We had a good time in La Esperanza. Our group gave happiness to these children that really haven’t had a childhood. We basically did the same things the rest of the week. Sometimes we would play games and watch movies. Hopefully, we left a good impression on these workers and that we made their children happy. The following week we went to a clinic in Tijuana, which is a very populated place. This city had everything it had restaurants, bars, and clubs. It was a much-polluted city and there was nothing but smoke everywhere. Our group got to Tijuana and we thought we were going to stay in a nice place that had enough room for all us. We guessed wrong. We stayed in this two room trailer but just big enough to fit all of us. This trailer was in back of the clinic but the rooms we’re just big enough to hold like seven bunk beds and a regular bed. It was so shocking at first because we were like a lot of girls in one room. As the week started, we had some chores to do to help out the clinic. We had various chores like painting, repairing, and some electrical work. We also alternated the jobs in the kitchen like cooking and cleaning. My first chore was painting a doctors office. One of the youth leaders was helping me paint the office. This office was small but had a lot of things on the wall. We had to carefully take off all the frames, certificates, and posters off the wall. After taking everything off the wall, we then covered the desk so paint wouldn’t get on it. We then started painting the office with the colored they picked out. I remember that it smelled really bad because of course it was paint but at least there was a door in the back of the office to let out the fumes. My next chore was painting the stairwell. The stairwell was made of concrete and was very narrow. That day in the clinic was full of people so I had to be very careful of not using too much paint. I was painting by myself, but occasionally my friends would stop by and talk to me about what they were doing. That afternoon we left to go to this church that was on a hill. It was so far up that you could see the whole city from that point. The church had a nice structure that had a basketball court and classrooms around the court for Sunday school. Our group was there to give bible classes for Vacation Bible School. These kids weren’t as poor as the workers camp. Most of the children had houses and clothes. I could tell they were worn out and needed some new clothes and shoes to have for when they started school. I helped interpret for one of my leaders because she didn’t know Spanish and she was teaching about sin. For the most part I got most of it, but sometimes I would mess up or I wouldn’t understand the words she was saying. All the kids enjoyed the message, especially afterwards when it was ...